Hosts Germany Headline Potentially Tricky Group A
Euro 2024 Group A Odds: Germans Favored to Win, Scotland Underdogs
Germany vs Scotland Opens up Tournament
Euro 2024 kicks off with hosts Germany vs. Scotland on June 14th. With so many erratic performances in recent years, many are not sure what to expect from Germany. Before they make it to the knockout stage, they’ll have to advance out of Group A. Scotland, Hungary, and Switzerland will be Die Mannschaft’s opponents. Hungary had an excellent unbeaten qualification campaign and Switzerland have made it out of the Group Stage at their last five major tournaments. We’ll cover the UEFA Euro 2024 Group A odds from a potentially tricky group for the Germans.
Range of Outcomes Wide for Germany
Germany have underperformed in each of their last two major tournaments. The UEFA Euro 2024 hosts exited Euro 2020 in the Round of 16 and failed to make it out of the group at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Under Julian Nagelsmann, Germany will look to regroup and win their first major trophy since the 2014 World Cup.
There are certain things to be excited about for fans of the Germany national football team. Florian Wirtz just won the Bundesliga’s Player of the Season award and the Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder is ready to announce himself on the international stage.
Kai Havertz, expected to start up front, had his best season since he left Leverkusen four years ago. After losing to Turkey and Austria in November, Germany bounced back with friendly wins over France and the Netherlands in March.
Germany’s defense hasn’t been their strong suit in recent years but Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rudiger form a formidable partnership. The range of outcomes here is quite wide (anything from champions to Round of 16 exit seems reasonable) but Germany come in at -250 odds to win the group. It’d be genuinely shocking if they finish at the bottom of the group at home, but they do sit at +2500 Euro 2024 Group A odds to finish in last place.
Scotland Lack Prolific Striker
Scotland’s biggest issue recently has been their lack of a prolific striker. Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has stepped up with goals from midfield, though. He ranked fifth in the UEFA Euro qualifiers stats, with seven goals as Scotland went 5-3-1 and finished second in Group A behind Spain.
McTominay scored twice in a historic 2-0 win over Spain in qualifiers but Scotland’s results have tailed off since then. They haven’t won any of their last seven games heading into Euro 2024 but they’ll still believe they can advance out of the group. Recall that first and second place in each group will automatically advance to the Round of 16 and the top four (of six) third-place finishers will do so as well.
Attack-minded left back Andy Robertson is one to watch here, along with midfielders McTominay and John McGinn. In 11 previous major tournaments, Scotland have never advanced out of the Group Stage. That’s part of the reason why they are priced at just +800 odds to win Group A and +110 odds to finish in last place.
Hungary Qualify in Impressive Fashion
Under Italian coach Marco Rossi, Hungary haven’t lost a match since September 2022. Since then, they’re unbeaten in their last 14 games, with two victories over Serbia and a win over Turkey. Hungary finished 5-3-0 in the Group G Qualifying UEFA Euro standings as Barnabas Varga and Dominik Szoboszlai scored four goals apiece.
Szoboszlai, a Liverpool midfielder, is Hungary’s star player and he is expected to produce goals and assists for them. Perhaps most impressively, Hungary defeated England twice in the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League and finished second in a group with Italy, England, and Germany.
Hungary went 1-1-0 vs. Germany in the Nations League and also drew vs. the Germans at Euro 2020. While light on big names, this is a Hungarian side that is difficult to defeat. While not remotely favored to win the group, Hungary could advance to the Round of 16. They sit at +700 odds to win Group A and +135 odds to finish at the bottom but we think second or third place is where Hungary will end up.
Switzerland Constantly Underestimated
Before predicting a Group Stage exit for Switzerland, understand that they’ve qualified for the knockout stage at their last five major tournaments. They ended up beating defending champions France in penalties at Euro 2020 before falling to Spain in the Quarter-Finals.
Switzerland did fail to win any of their last four UEFA Euro Qualifiers, but they managed to finish second in their group behind Romania. This is an experienced team, with Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schar, and Ricardo Rodriguez in defense.
Granit Xhaka has played at an incredibly high level over the last couple of seasons and the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder could be Switzerland’s key player here. Striker Breel Embolo is recovering from ACL and hamstring injuries but coach Murat Yakin needs him, with Xherdan Shakiri aging and Zeki Amdouni and Noah Okafor relatively unproven.
Switzerland, who have drawn six of their last nine matches at the European championships, display +500 odds to win Group A. Meanwhile, they come in at +450 Euro 2024 Group A odds to finish last but they’ve been remarkably consistent over the past decade.
